“Our mid year product releases encompass new plush products that feature a variety of styles, a fresh approach to two of Hasbro’s classic brands, as well as innovative designs and attractive fabrics across the board,” says Michael Kessler, Aurora’s SVP of sales and marketing. Aurora mid-year product releases include:

MY LITTLE PONY: Four plush styles for each of six characters — TWILIGHT SPARKLE, PINKIE PIE, RAINBOW DASH, APPLEJACK, RARITY and FLUTTERSHY — highlight Aurora’s new MY LITTLE PONY line based on the MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC animated series, produced by Hasbro Studios and airing on the HUB Network in the US. “Our team did a great job with these elegant and stylish ponies; the line includes 24 different styles. They look just like the animation,” says Kessler. Aurora’s innovative and completely new Pony Tail Carriers (5” x 6.5”) include a plush pony (6.5”) and both have long sculpted hair and use various fabrics (SRP: $17). Standalone plush ponies are available in two sizes (6.5” and 10”; SRP: $7 and $20 respectively) while the line also includes Aurora’s two-piece Fancy Pals™ style: a plush pony (6.5”) with personalized, matching carrier (6”); SRP: $17.

I’ve been wanting to do a series like this for a long time so a big thanks to trviamaven for teeing me up with last week’s trivia question. Now if only we can sneak them all in as trivia columns, I might actually get to do the whole series.

Pinkie Pie debuted first debuted in 2003 as part of the Glitter Celebration Set. She was actually in both the first and second set of Glitter Celebration ponies in two different poses, an early example of the overexposure that would eventually make her infamous with collectors.

See, Hasbro has long insisted that pink ponies sell better than ponies of any other color and Pinkie Pie soon became one of the most hated characters ever as the market was flooded with version after version of this same pony in a variety of poses and styles. Even many of the collector exclusive ponies during the early years of G3 were just special versions of Pinkie Pie. The situation only got worse when she was named one of the Core 7.

For collectors who were used to a wide variety of ponies, colors and symbols, the glut of Pinkie Pies lead to collectors getting sick of her, begging Hasbro to turn their attention to new ponies or, at least, different ponies. But while collectors may have had mixed feelings, Hasbro embraced her fully making her the unofficial face of the new wave of ponies that began in 2003 and continues into today.

Pinkie Pie was also the very first pony made into a walkaround character.

In 2010, Pinkie Pie joined the cast of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Though there was talk of changing her into a pegasus (as they did with fellow 2003 release, Rainbow Dash) they ultimately left her as an earth pony. As the show brought her to a whole new audience of children and bronies, Pinkie Pie has enjoyed new found popularity with her new bubbly personality.

Has the new show finally redeemed this MLP black horse? Only time will tell.

But with Friendship is Magic borrowing so heavily from the first generation of MLP, I had to take a look back to see if maybe there was a proto-Pinkie Pie hidden somewhere in a past generation. Let’s see… pink hair, pink body and balloons… Might her distant ancestor be Twice as FancyUp, Up and Away released between 1986-87? Her balloons are green and yellow instead of blue and yellow but the similarities are there.

How do you feel about Pinkie Pie? Do you still harbor some ill will or has she wormed her way into your heart?

Last year we got the first Hasbro official My Little Pony costumes in many, many years. Of course, MLP has gone through some major changes since then. Pinkie Pie still looks mostly the same as how she looked last year so her costume will still appeal to FiM fans but now that Rainbow Dash is a pegasus (last year’s costume was Earth pony RD or, as I like to call her, Rainbow Dash Classic) and Cheerilee and Star Song are no longer “mane characters” (heh), will Hasbro be releasing official FiM styled costumes in time for Halloween?

The answer is… sort of. Because look what I just found:

Adorable? Yes. Officially Hasbro licensed? It’s being sold by by Disguise which sells the other licensed MLP costumes so that sign points to yes.

And, before you ask, only child and toddler sizes. Sorry, adult sized guys and gals! But think of the fun you can have dressing your little ones!